Core biopsy devices have been combined with imaging technology to better target a lesion in breast tissue. One such commercially available product is marketed under the trademark name MAMMOTOME™, by Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. An embodiment of such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,526,822 issued to Burbank, et al., on Jun. 18, 1996, and is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Its handle receives mechanical and electrical power as well as vacuum assist from a remotely positioned control module that is spaced away from the high magnetic field of a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine.
As seen from that reference, the instrument is a type of image-guided, percutaneous coring, breast biopsy instrument. It is vacuum-assisted, and some of the steps for retrieving the tissue samples have been automated. The physician uses this device to capture “actively” (using the vacuum) the tissue prior to severing it from the body. This allows the sampling of tissues of varying hardness. In addition, a side opening aperture is used, avoiding having to thrust into a lesion, which may tend to push the mass away, cause a track metastasis, or cause a hematoma that, with residual contrast agent circulating therein, may mimic enhancement in a suspicious lesion. The side aperture may be rotated about a longitudinal axis of the probe, thereby allowing multiple tissue samples without having to otherwise reposition the probe. These features allow for substantial sampling of large lesions and complete removal of small ones.
Vacuum assisted core biopsy devices have been adapted to be safe and compatible with various imaging modalities, including Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). In particular, portions of a biopsy system placed near the magnet core of an MRI machine need to be nonresponsive to the strong magnetic field to prevent becoming drawn toward the magnet core or to malfunction. Further, the MRI machine depends upon sensing extremely weak radio frequency (RF) signals emanated by tissue after being excited by a strong change in the magnetic field. Components placed in the RF shielded MRI suite need to avoid producing electromagnetic interference (EMI) and need to avoid having materials that would distort RF signals sufficient to create artifacts in the MRI scan data.
A successful approach has been to segregate motive power generation, graphical user interface, vacuum assist, and closed loop control in a control module that has typically been placed about 6 feet away from the magnet core to mitigate detrimental interaction with its strong magnetic field and/or sensitive radio frequency (RF) signal detection antennas. An intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) provides a range of preprogrammed functionality incorporated into a control module to efficiently use time in an MRI suite to take tissue samples.
As an example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,752,768, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, a control button may be depressed to change a mode of operation of a core biopsy device with this mode displayed remotely on a display.
While a full function GUI has numerous clinical benefits, the clinician may find the control module inconveniently remote during hands-on portions of the procedure. In addition, some MRI machines have such increased sensitivity and/or increased magnet field strength that it is desirable to increase the distance of the control monitor (e.g., 30 feet) from the MRI machine. Further, even if the control monitor is sufficiently close, some clinicians prefer a simplified user interface to simplify training familiarity.
Consequently, a significant need exists for a biopsy system compatible for use in an MRI suite with biopsy controls with enhanced convenience and intuitiveness.